


hand over hand

by stardustkiss



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Blushing, Boyfriends, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gentle Kissing, Gentleness, Happy Ending, Hugs, Kissing, Long-Distance Relationship, Long-Term Relationship(s), M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nail Polish, Sad and Happy, Sharing a Room, Shyness, Sweet, Waiting, hello dear readers its only 2am woohoo!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 01:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30014031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustkiss/pseuds/stardustkiss
Summary: Sapnap visits Karl after months of being long distance, and they sit as Karl paints Sapnap’s nails for the last time before he has to go back home.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Comments: 6
Kudos: 89
Collections: Completed stories I've read





	hand over hand

**Author's Note:**

> hello dear readers!  
> i’ve been having a little bit of a tough time so i wrote this to help me through it a little! 
> 
> it’s bittersweet but it is sweet...! 
> 
> tiny cw/tw there’s mentions of sapnap being mistreated by his family! things like neglecting him etc etc!!
> 
> title from hand over hand by roland faunte!!
> 
> please be safe and enjoy!

Autumn afternoons, wet air and warm light casting twin shadows on olive walls. Days melted into each other, a weekend trip turned into whispered ideas of “stay” and “one more day” and his house became their home. Sapnap’s room would have begun to collect dust, cold and lonely and waiting. Karl’s bed was just the right size for the two of them, any smaller and it would be cramped, any bigger and they’d be too far away.

Karl was so convincing, bright eyes, soft hair and even softer lips. He’d been prepared to beg Sapnap to not go back, to drive miles and miles away again. He didn’t need to, because Sapnap didn’t want to leave either. All it took was Karl’s arms tightening around him or the quietest noise of displeasure to make him stay. 

It was hard to be apart, they didn’t know how they’d done it for so long. They were spoiled with each other’s company when they lived in the same small town, with nothing to do but drive around then get lost in the woods. Then Sapnap had to move back to be closer to family, they’d always been distant with him but he was a good son. He had always been good.

Karl was so drawn to his goodness, to the golden heart sitting unprotected and out in the open. There was this safety when he was with Sapnap, this reassurance that he wasn’t going to turn his back on Karl. It’s not like Karl lacked goodness, it’s that he was cheeky, and he liked getting away with things. He liked that Sapnap could sit through him being a complete brat and not realize Karl was playing it up for comedic effect. He liked that Sapnap was so genuine, despite it all.

Leaves had been falling faster nowadays, piling up on his front lawn and scattering across the stone path leading to his door. Karl leapt from stone to stone, refusing to miss one or god forbid walk across the grass between them. He grabbed at the fuzzy heart keychain hanging from his keys and yanked them out of his pocket.

He didn’t like having to leave Sapnap at home by himself but he had work and he’d used up all his vacation days earlier in the week. They’d talked about getting a pet to keep him company, only leaving the conversation up in the air when Karl remembered Sapnap had to leave eventually. 

Karl swung the door open and nearly forgot his keys in the lock in his flurry of excitement. He fumbled until he managed to get the key out and tossed them onto the shelf right next to the door. He was locking the door, kicking his shoes off and squirming out of his jacket all at once. It had been about seven hours since he’d seen Sapnap, eight if you counted the drive there and back.

He was getting spoiled and he knew it. Eight hours felt like eternity when they’d gone months without each other, it was going to hurt like hell when he left again. Karl narrowly avoided tripping over his shoe as he rushed down the hallway, being extra loud so he could announce to Sapnap he was home from a mile away.

Karl collided with the bedroom door that had been a quarter of the way open and swung with it eagerly. A quick look around the room with no sign of his lover made him stand flat on his feet. Sapnap didn’t say he wasn’t going to be home when Karl got here, did he? 

He went to grab his phone out of his pocket to check if there were any unread or misread messages when the bathroom door closing broke the silence. Karl jolted slightly, spinning on his heels to see a pleasantly surprised Sapnap walking down the hallway towards him.

“Hi handsome!” Karl leapt forward, wrapping his arms around Sapnap’s middle and grinning up when Sapnap kissed the top of his head.

“Hi pretty boy,” Sapnap hummed out, the hours he had been waiting alone for Karl was worth it when he watched his face light up. He grinned so bright his cheeks hurt and he blushed all the way to his ears, pushing his face against Sapnap’s neck to hide.

“Oh don’t do that,” Karl knew he started it, he usually did, but he could never finish it. Sapnap wrapped his arms around Karl and began to lead him backwards into the bedroom, and Karl raised his head to peek at his concentrated expression.

“What? Call you pretty? You are.” Sapnap casually murmured, shutting the door behind them and hauling Karl over to the bed. He sat down on the end of the bed and Karl rested in his lap for a few moments.

“Stop it, you’re so cute.” Karl couldn’t have melted more if he tried, he threaded his fingers into Sapnap’s fluffy hair and sighed. 

“I’m cute?” Sapnap clasped his hands together behind Karl’s lower back, waiting to meet his eyes again. “You’re gorgeous.” He jolted the tiniest bit when Karl pressed his hands to Sapnap’s mouth and looked up with wide, wild eyes.

“No, no, no.” Karl warned, easing himself out of Sapnap’s lap and shaking his head quickly. “That’s not allowed, that’s actually illegal.” He waved his finger at him, making his way to his desk.

“Aw, I thought you liked it.” Sapnap laid back, the bed creaked under him and he closed his eyes lightly. “How was work? Anything fun happen?” He listened to the clink of glass against glass, Karl was digging through something on the other side of the room.

“Ew, I don’t want to talk about work,” Karl softly shuddered at the thought, he’d been there all day and finally got home to escape it. Sapnap was just being kind and curious, the way he always was. “It was fun when it was over and I got to come home to you.” 

“Fair enough,” Sapnap laughed breathlessly, stretching his arms over his head and groaning quietly. He opened one of his eyes when Karl grabbed at his right hand and inspected his nails. “They chipped a little bit in the shower, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t fret even the teeniest tiniest bit,” Karl immediately reassured him, cupping Sapnap’s face in his hands and squeezing his cheeks lightly. “You have never done anything wrong in your life.”

“Mm, that is definitely not true,” Sapnap grinned, raising one of his eyebrows as everything he had ever gotten in trouble for flooded his mind. Karl took his mind off of it pretty quickly, as he gave him a big kiss and then pulled away to continue rooting around in the nail polish box. “What’s the colour palette of the day, baby?” He sat up on the bed finally, scooting into the middle of it.

“Nuh uh, don’t call me that,” Karl let a couple bottles of polish fall onto the desk as he scrambled to pull his sweater over his face. “You don’t get to call me that, I’m going to burst into tears and die.”

“You won’t… cause I call you that sometimes and you’re still alive and well.” Sapnap scratched at his head lazily, patiently waiting for Karl to come and paint his nails. He’d never actually tried it himself, because it would be some grand betrayal and because his hands were too shaky. 

“Saying that I’m well is very, very optimistic,” Karl snorted at the implication, he’d had a nervous breakdown just the other day. “No pet names because they make me wanna stop doing everything and just be in your arms.” He mumbled, snatching up the two colours he had picked. 

“That doesn’t sound like a problem to me, like at all.” Sapnap put his hands out on instinct, smiling when Karl handed him the nail polish and then turned back around for the remover. “How come you can call me names then? It’s not fair.”

“You know what’s not fair? That you can call me literally anything in that sweet soft voice of yours and I will kiss you, no matter what.” Karl returned with the nail polish remover and cotton pads, plopping himself down on the bed beside Sapnap. “You could call me horrible things and I’d be like, wow, romantic.” 

“Horrible things? Like what?” Sapnap put the bottles of nail polish down on the bed and then grabbed Karl underneath the knees to pull him closer. “Like poo poo?” He was only satisfied when Karl had his legs on either side of him, which was usually how Karl sat anyways. 

“That’s the worst thing you could come up with?” Karl stared at his boyfriend, not sure if he wanted him to be meaner or not. “Whatever, it just proves you’re lovely.” 

“And that’s a bad thing?” Sapnap blinked as Karl opened up the remover, and easily soaked a cotton pad in the acetone. “I can’t be mean to you, you’re a sweetie.” 

“Oh, you,  _ jerk _ .” Karl leaned forward and kissed Sapnap quickly, furiously blushing. “Gimme your right hand,” He grabbed onto Sapnap’s fingers hurriedly and began rubbing the chipped orange colour off of his pinky. 

“I can think of worse words but I can’t say them out loud, especially not to you,” Sapnap rested his free hand on Karl’s knee, fiddling with the thin strings spread between the holes in his jeans. “Are you sure I can’t call you pet names, babe?” 

“Stop it.” Karl yanked Sapnap closer by the strings of his hoodie and kissed him quick, but firmly. “No more, I’m supposed to paint your nails, not make out with you.” He grabbed onto his ring finger and began scrubbing red off of his nail. 

“So you can play but I can’t?” Sapnap dragged his hand over Karl’s knee, absently tracing the looser strings, tempted to pick away at them. “Not fair…” 

“Life isn’t fair,” Karl sighed out loudly, overly dramatic and absolutely making fun of him. He grabbed onto Sapnap’s middle finger and got to work cleaning the polish off of that nail too “What about pet names for you hm? How are you going to cope if I start calling you love, or angel, or honey?” He mumbled back, as if that would do anything to him.

“Those are very nice, but I like being called yours.” Sapnap said with a small shrug, sliding the first few centimetres of his fingers into the rip in Karl’s jeans right over his knee and Karl felt his stomach turn into red hot magma. “Go on, add ‘my’ to those. I wanna hear you say it.” 

Karl had to stop everything he was doing, this was way too much for him and he was about to break out into a sweat. Sapnap was calmly sitting on the bed with his legs underneath Karl’s legs, dutifully letting Karl clean his nails with no complaints.

Karl was losing his mind over this exchange, it felt like he had accidentally turned on the heater and couldn’t turn it off. It both pissed him off and was incredibly alluring that Sapnap was so unshaken, Karl did not know how he had so much patience and control. 

“Alright.” Karl cleared his throat, eyes flickering from Sapnap’s hand resting underneath the rip in his jeans to his lazy dark blue eyes expectantly watching him. “My love…” Karl tested it out, the tiniest gasp leaving his mouth when Sapnap averted his gaze and his cheeks got rosier. “Oh my God?”

“What? I just told you I liked it, why are you acting so surprised?” Sapnap let out a shaky breath, pushing his hand towards Karl some more. “You didn’t finish…”

“I’ve never seen you so… flustered.” Karl mumbled, moving on to his index finger and getting to work immediately. “Well I have, but, not  _ this _ easily.” 

“Mm, I’m a simple guy,” Sapnap squeezed at Karl’s leg gently and hummed in thought at the tiny tremble he felt under his fingers. “Thinking about being yours does all sorts of shit to my heart…” 

“You have to stop being adorable, Sap.” Karl took a deep breath in an attempt to centre himself. “And get your hand out of my pants before I jump on you.” He scolded, though half heartedly and mostly joking. 

“It’s a curse, I’m just so cute.” Sapnap pulled his hand away from Karl’s leg and grabbed the nail polish again. Karl could at least focus on his job now, finishing cleaning his right hand and putting his palm out for the left one after getting another cotton pad ready. Sapnap juggled the polish from one hand to the other, obediently plopping the left one into Karl’s. 

“What’d you do at home while I was gone?” Karl had to get his mind off of everything that made him distracted and warm, he needed to get back on task.

“Mm, not much. Stayed in bed until about 2pm, then I had lunch. I had leftovers from last night, and it was still just as good.” Sapnap let his eyes wander over Karl’s face as he tried to remember what he did today, entranced by the way his lover’s face shifted when he was focused. “Then I took a shower, a long one actually. I think I used too much hot water.” His shoulders shrugged and Karl wiped the last of the colour from his thumb before moving to the next finger.

“And you didn’t send me any pictures?” Karl was doing a shitty job at getting his mind off of things, because he was just so tempted to say it. It was so easy. Sapnap chuckled lightly, not bothering trying to humour him. “You could’ve at least Facetimed me.” He added, turning the cotton pad over as he got to his middle finger.

“Karl, you’d lose your job.” Sapnap reminded him, rubbing his fingers over the labels of the nail polish bottles in his hand. 

“So? More time for me to be at home with you.” Karl said without thinking, tensing when the words got back to him. He fought back a frown, hoping Sapnap didn’t notice the stutter in his movement as he cleaned his nails.

Silence poured over the two of them, uneasy, but bright. Like there were a million ways it could be broken and only a few ways would ruin the mood. Karl was able to finish his work faster now that he wasn’t speaking, dedicating all his restless energy into his hands instead of his mouth. 

Karl tossed the dirty cotton pads into the garbage can, putting the nail polish removed onto the desk with a big stretch and then swallowing the lump in his throat. Sapnap presented the two bottles to him, the first a pale periwinkle and the other a dusty pink. Karl weakly twisted the first bottle open and Sapnap licked at his lips.

“I um, got a phone call today.” Sapnap broke the silence, because he knew Karl too well. Karl wasn’t going to do it, too afraid of saying the wrong thing, too scared of hurting Sapnap. He was trapped between not wanting to ignore the tension and wanting to run as far away from it as possible.

“You did?” Karl tried to put on a brave face, scraping excess polish off of the brush and cupping Sapnap’s hand with his own shaky fingers. He didn’t know why he bothered when Sapnap knew exactly how he felt, because they had the same pool of dread in the pits of their stomachs now. 

“Mhm, my Dad called…” Sapnap placed his hand back onto Karl’s leg, this time pushing it up his thigh and grabbing his waist securely. Karl carefully painted Sapnap’s thumb, nodding his head stiffly as he heard his voice but wanted to ignore the words so badly.

“Is everything okay?” Karl forced himself to ask, skipping his index finger for his middle finger and dipping the brush into the polish again.

Did he want things to be okay? Did he want them not to be? Karl was being selfish and he knew, he just wanted Sapnap here. He wanted him to be here, under his roof, where he knew he would be loved and appreciated and safe. They both knew damn well Sapnap leaving to be close to family meant a false sense of security and pushing him away when they were done abusing his kindness.

“Things are okay.” Sapnap rubbed at Karl’s side tenderly, and Karl paused his painting to inhale deeply. He didn’t want to talk about it, but they had to. “He was wondering when I’m coming back.”

Karl wanted to say everything that on his mind, wanted to erupt and beg Sapnap to stop being so nice to them. Wanted to pour his heart out and let him know he deserved so much better, that they used him and weren’t really family. His words died in his throat, it wasn’t what Sapnap needed to hear right now, neither of them needed to hear it in fact.

“Can you stay with me one more day?” Karl continued to drag periwinkle over Sapnap’s nails, inspecting the colour for any streakiness. He blinked tears out of his eyes, attempting to distract himself with smoothing out any imperfections in the polish. “Just one.” 

“Yeah, I’ll stay one more day baby.” Sapnap murmured under his breath, just loud enough for Karl to hear him through a wistful sigh. Karl held the nail polish bottle half closed in his hand, shutting his eyes tightly and letting the smallest whimper leave his pursed lips.

He fell forward against Sapnap, resting his forehead on his shoulder and nuzzling to get as close as possible. Karl couldn’t bear this, he couldn’t stand being away from Sapnap again for who knows how long this time. Sapnap’s unpainted hand moved from his waist to his lower back, rubbing slow comforting circles to calm Karl down. 

This second silence was quieter, colder, but the way that was refreshing and gentle. Karl turned his head, kissing Sapnap’s neck gingerly and rubbing his nose against his skin, memorizing the way he felt. Neither of them moved to pull away from each other for a while, Karl was focused on the pressure of Sapnap’s hand against his back. 

When Karl finally moved away from Sapnap, he brushed at a small wet spot on Sapnap’s hoodie where a few of his tears had slipped. Karl sniffled, and then went to grab his hand again to see Sapnap already inspecting his nails.

“Oh shoot, did I mess them up?” Karl deflated the tiniest bit, pout forming before he could even get an answer. He was in that mood where the tiniest things brought him down further, and him smudging his boyfriend’s nail polish might make him cry for real.

“No, we’re all good.” Sapnap offered him a smile as well as his hand back, watching Karl properly close the periwinkle in favour of the pink in awe. “I was worried your hard work would’ve been messed up…” 

“C’mere.” Karl leaned forward again, unable to hold himself back when Sapnap was so casually the sweetest person he’d even met. Sapnap met him halfway, the hand on Karl’s back touched the back of his neck and Karl felt it like lightning. Their lips met in a soft kiss, then they met again and again. 

Sapnap’s hand was cupping Karl’s cheek when Karl worked up enough willpower to pull away and remind himself of the abandoned nail polish. 

“This is a pretty blue,” Sapnap said, like he’d been wanting to say it for a long time but was shy about it. Karl melted again, kissing him right between his brows and then leaning back to fill his empty nails in with pink.

“I knew you’d like it, cause you like pretty things.” Karl tried his hand at being funny again, attempting to swerve the conversation away from crying about his boyfriend leaving or his want to kiss his boyfriend senseless. 

“That’s very true,” Sapnap finally had one whole hand painted and he held it up towards the ceiling lamp. He watched the still wet nail polish sparkle while Karl watched his eyes do the same, and then his other hand was taken. “You’re a very pretty thing, and I love you.” He put his freshly painted hand against his thigh, out of harm’s way. 

“You are unbelievable.” Karl shook his head, mostly at himself. Because he would have pushed Sapnap down on the bed and gave into the urge to kiss him again if he wouldn’t have missed his hands on him so badly. His wet nails were the only thing keeping Karl sane, and he had to thank himself for it. “Unbelievably handsome.” He added, this time starting with the pink nail polish. “I love you, alot, like lots and lots.” 

“I’m very lucky you do,” Sapnap peeked down at the pink being painted onto his index finger, always impressed with Karl’s accuracy. Sapnap knew if he even tried his cuticles would not be happy with him, and Karl would be absolutely horrified. He snorted at the thought of it and Karl narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Hey, are you laughing at me? That’s so messed up.” Karl scoffed, as if Sapnap’s laugh didn’t make waking up everyday worth it. “Here I am giving you a pretty little manicure and you have the audacity to laugh at me? That’s literally  _ so _ messed up.” He mumbled, fake hurt dripping off of his words.

“I’m sorry, really sorry,” Sapnap moved forward slowly, kissing Karl on the cheek noisily and then offering him a little smile. “I wasn’t laughing at you, you just make me happy and I can’t help myself.”

This third silence was the result of Karl’s complete disbelief that God or whoever had sent an angel straight from heaven directly to him and he was sitting on his bed letting him paint his nails. Somehow the human personification of light and love had been manifested in the scruffy, sleepy smalltown boy Karl had fallen in love with.

“Karl?” Sapnap asking, giving him a little head tilt, which just stunned Karl into an even longer silence. He didn’t know who or what he had to pray to, but somebody would definitely be receiving his thanks. 

“You, my love, are stunning.” Karl said with a small shake of his head, blinking his eyes as he comprehended how he was real and how this was allowed. Sapnap let out a small noise, looking down at his lap as his heart throbbed in his chest and his cheeks had been kissed by fire, lighting him up to his ears with embarrassment. 

Karl noticed the way his hand shook lightly in his grasp, clearly overwhelmed and Karl kissed his knuckles so softly it tickled. He closed the bottle of pink polish and Sapnap peeked up at him through his lashes, fond smile growing when their eyes met.

“Thank you for painting my nails…” Sapnap murmured, the warble of his voice was enough to make Karl’s heart pound. He nodded his head, his own smile getting bigger as he caught sight of Sapnap’s wondrous expression as he used the periwinkle once more.

The fourth silence was complete understanding. It was a loaded thank you, that meant he was thankful for everything. For the many times they’d sat together and Karl had painted his nails, for eating breakfast together, for cooking lunch, for waiting around until work was done, for doing chores together, for kisses, for giggles, for naps, for everything. 

This past week and a half had been stolen time, a trip gone on too long that caught up with them eventually. But soon it wouldn’t be a trip, soon Karl wouldn’t have to beg him to stay, because it would be home. It would actually be home.

He could be patient, even if he hated it and it made him squirm. Sapnap was worth every second, he was worth counting down the days until they next could see each other, until they could touch each other, until they could fall asleep in the same bed. Karl could be patient, because Sapnap shared his patience with him.

He taught him to be patient, just like he had taught him what it felt like to be loved, really loved. Karl did the last stroke of polish, closed the bottle and smiled proudly at his work. Sapnap laced their fingers together with the utmost care, and looked at the flurry of colours mixing between their nails.

Periwinkle and pink and yellow and orange. Karl kissed one of Sapnap’s knuckles, and then Sapnap kissed one of Karl’s. They’d sit there, trading soft presses of their lips against skin and reminding themselves they would be together again sometime soon.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i think it’s kind of cute and funny that i started writing this before karl did his alt stream where he painted his nails...what a coincidence! it definitely motivated me to keep writing though! 
> 
> goodnight to the karlnap nation! compared to my 5am uploads this 2am upload is NOTHING!! 
> 
> thanks so much for the support! i’m back on the hurt/comfort shit (this one was much more mild than usual ehehe) as i am struggling just a bit! 
> 
> take care dear readers! until next time!
> 
> ps. this is SOOO much more smoochy than my usual karlnap stuff but can u blame me. these dudes will not stop smooching no matter where you take them!!!!


End file.
